- A LOOK BACK.
IT WAS THE
- A LOOK BACK.
IT WAS THE STORM THAT
SET THE BENCHMARK FOR
ALL SNOWSTORMS.
(MM)
THE IMPACTS TO LIFE AND
PROPERTY WERE
STAGGERING.
THE FRONT PAGE OF THE
PROVIDENCE EVENING
BULLETIN SAID IT ALL...
"THE WORST
SNOWSTORM IN RHODE
ISLAND HISTORY."
(HE)
CHIEF METEOROLOGIST
TONY PETRARCA IS TAKING
A LOOK BACK TONIGHT
WITH SOME OF THE
PEOPLE WHO WERE IN
THE THICK OF IT...
INCLUDING A RI-DOT
PLOW DRIVER WHO
WORKED SIX DAYS
STRAIGHT IN THE STORM.
(TP)
ON THE EARLY MORNING
OF FEB 6th, SOUTHERN
NEW ENGLANDERS WOKE
UP TO NO SNOW.
EVERYONE WENT TO
WORK AND SCHOOL
THINKING THAT THE
STORM PROBABLY WASN'T
A BIG DEAL OR MAYBE WAS
A MISS.
BUT AS WE KNOW ALL
TOO WELL NOW...
IT WAS NOT.
40 YEARS AGO - OVER 27
INCHES OF SNOW FELL ON
PROVIDENCE IN JUST TWO
DAYS, WITH REPORTS OF UP TO
50 INCHES IN NORTHERN
RHODE ISLAND. THE
PARALYZING STORM BROUGHT
THE STATE TO A ONE-WEEK
STANDSTILL.
"I couldn't believe the amount
of
snow coming down, it was my 1st
big snowstorm in my 28 year
career
with the state."
EVERYONE WHO LIVED
THROUGH IT HAS A BLIZZARD
STORY, WHETHER IT'S BEING
STRANDED OR BEING A PART
OF THE THE WORKFORCE TO
HELP RESCUE THE STATE
DURING THE WEEK LONG
EMERGENCY.
"I went to work at 7:00 on a
Monday
and I worked until 3:00 the
following
Sunday."
DIGGING OUT AND CLEARING
THE ROADS WAS A
MONUMENTAL OPERATION. BILL
WHELAN WAS A PLOW
OPERATOR FOR THE
DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION DURING THE
STORM.
POWERFUL WINDS, ZERO
VISIBILITY AND NEARLY 48
HOURS OF HEAVY SNOW - THIS
WAS NOT YOUR TYPICAL SNOW
STORM. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE
WERE STRANDED ON THE
HIGHWAY
"When I came up from 95 there
were people out there during the
day trying to get their cars out
with
shovels...and we were there
trying
to help them, trying to get
their cars
out, trying to get them off
highway
as best we could"
THE STATE STOOD STILL FOR A
WEEK, BUT BILL AND HIS CREW
RARELY STOPPED.
"We worked 24 hours a day , we
caught cat naps here and there,
food when ever we could,, all of
us
we were just running on
Adrenaline."
THINGS CHANGED OVER THE
NEXT FOUR DECADES... MORE
ACCURATE FORECASTING,
COMMUNICATION AND BETTER
PLOWS.
"Back then we only had the
single
plows, plow in the front, no
wing
plow"
THOSE WINGS DOUBLE THE
AREAL WIDTH OF SNOW
REMOVAL...BUT YOU CAN'T
PLOW SNOW WITH HUNDREDS
OF ABANDONED CARS ON THE
ROAD.
"Traffic was the biggest enemy
of
the DOT Back then"
FAST FORWARD TO 2018 AND
NOW BILL'S SON - BILLY - IS IN
THE DRIVER'S SEAT.
The technology definitely makes
a
big big difference, the forecast
You're saying better forecasts?
Better forecasts
That's a definite.
BOTH FATHER AND SON AGREE
METEOROLOGICAL ADVANCES -
COMBINED WITH YEARS OF
EXPERTISE - HAVE CHANGED
THE PROCESS OF SNOW
REMOVAL FOR THE BETTER.
"I'm proud my son following in
my
footsteps. I tried to make it
easy for
him by giving him my
experiences"
"He's given me a few pointers,
you
use them, hey he did know what
he
THIS W
'78 - A LOOK BACK.
THIS WEEK MARKS ITS
40th ANNIVERSARY.
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IN TERMS OF SOCIAL
IMPACT ----IT'S
RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF
THE WORST SNOW
STORMS OF THE 20th
CENTURY.
RECORD SNOWFALL...
SEVENTEEN DEATHS...
AND MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS IN ECONOMIC
LOSS.
(HE)
SNOW TOTALS -- RANGED
FROM TEN INCHES ON
BLOCK ISLAND -- TO UP TO
FOUR FEET IN
NORTHERN RHODE
ISLAND.
(MM)
CHIEF METEOROLOGIST
TONY PETRARCA IS HERE
NOW WITH A LOOK BACK
(TP)
STATE AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT WAS PUT
TO THE ULTIMATE TEST
DURING THIS STORM.
GOVERNOR JOSEPH
GARRAHY BECAME THE
FACE AND VOICE ON
TELEVISION AND RADIO,
HELPING RHODE ISLAND
THRU THE NEARLY WEEK-
LONG EMERGENCY.
I SAT DOWN WITH THE
LATE GOVERNOR'S PRESS
SECRETARY AT THE TIME -
MIKE RYAN - WHO
WORKED SIDE BY SIDE
WITH THE GOVERNOR
DURING THE STORM.
Back then I don't think any
state in
the area was prepared for that
amount of snow that quickly.
THE SNOW STARTED FALLING
AFTER THE MONDAY MORNING
COMMUTE...
AND WITHIN HOURS - THE
REALIZATION THAT THIS WAS A
SERIOUS STORM - HAD SET IN.
"We found it very quickly late
afternoon early evening that
this
was not the storm we were going
to
recover from on our own"
STUDENTS AND WORKERS
WERE RELEASED EARLY - TO
TRY AND MAKE IT BACK HOME.
BUT THAT JUST TRIGGERED
MASSIVE GRIDLOCK.
HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WHO
GOT STUCK IN THE TRAFFIC
ABANDONED THEIR CARS AND
WALKED THROUGH THE STORM
TO FIND SHELTER.
"The governor has called down
and
asked for an estimate on how
many
cars are stranded on 95. What
have
you got up to date? Over 3,000?"
SADLY, THAT TRAFFIC TURNED
TRAGIC FOR SOME.
"they were bodies taken out of
cars
where people stayed in their
cars
with cars running on the
highway,
couldn't go anywhere.... snow
was
piling up behind their exhaust
system and they died of CO2
poisoning"
"I called the president to have
him
declare a federal emergency"
GOVERNOR GARRAHY
REFLECTED BACK ON THE
MONUMENTAL STORM AROUND
ITS 30th ANNIVERSARY - FOUR
YEARS BEFORE HIS DEATH.
"The state was really at a stand
still
for the first few days of the
blizzard
until we were able to navigate
and
clean it up"
AS DAY TWO OF THE STORM
RAGED ON THE GOVERNOR
AND HIS STAFF USED THE
EMERGENCY BROADCAST
SYSTEM ON T-V AND RADIO TO
STAY IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE.
"he was out there quite often
giving
updates telling people what to
be
prepared for that it was going
to be
a long siege "
GARRAHY WAS REVERED FOR
HIS CALM ASSURANCE TO
RHODE ISLANDERS.
AND THE CASUAL OUTFIT HE
WORE THAT WEEK HAS SINCE
BEEN IMMORTALIZED.
"the plaid shirt has become a
symbol of that blizzard"
"It happened to be a flannel
shirt I
think he got it for Christmas he
just
put it on and we headed out and
he
wore it for the week."
BY THE FOLLOWING MONDAY -
THE STATE STARTED TO
RETURN TO NORMALCY
"till the day he died as a
matter of
fact it was just six years ago
The
day he died people would come up
to him and say I remember you
from